Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
In “Finding Haiti, Finding History in Zora Neale Hurtson’s Their Eyes Were Watching God” , Stuelke examines damaging affects of imperialism on the black population in Haiti and how it directly correlates with mistreatment and institutionalized regression of African Americans in the United States. This article is relevant to Their Eyes Are watching God because it portrays the dual control that the U.S government holds over both Haitians and African Americans, which Hurston depicts through the various encounters that , the main character, Janie faces. Historically, Haiti was an island conquered by the French that was used for the production of sugar cane , which of course involved slave labor. The slaves eventually gained their freedom when they
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One of the main parts of the book that Stuelke highlights is the fact that Joe “freed uh mule” (Stuelke, 764) , which highlights that to be “powerful” you have to have control over another being and also that the “mule” is worth more than an African American human. The mule is buried after it dies but after many black men die in the flood they are not buried, therefore their life is not truly respected they become just another dead meaningless body. The mule also has more freedom than a black woman which is why many says “the nigger woman is the mule of the world” (Stuelke,765), the woman is “free” but still under the control of a man. this correlates to the argument that the book has Carribbean influence because women of the plasja (loweer classes peasants) make an agreement when they get married on the roles they are to fulfill, which mostly includes field work. Women are furthermore degraded as Hurtson uses sugar as “ a medium through which imperialist paternalism and violence” are included into the book. The sugar aspect creates a childlike imagery of Janie that is also connected to Haiti as “a nation orphaned by parental neglect”(Stuelke, 766). Both Janie and Haiti are seen by societty as in need of help and guidance, which is why most of Janie’s husband
One of the main parts of the book that Stuelke highlights is the fact that Joe “freed uh mule” (Stuelke, 764) , which highlights that to be “powerful” you have to have control over another being and also that the “mule” is worth more than an African American human. The mule is buried after it dies but after many black men die in the flood they are not buried, therefore their life is not truly respected they become just another dead meaningless body. The mule also has more freedom than a black woman which is why many says “the nigger woman is the mule of the world” (Stuelke,765), the woman is “free” but still under the control of a man. this correlates to the argument that the book has Carribbean influence because women of the plasja (loweer classes peasants) make an agreement when they get married on the roles they are to fulfill, which mostly includes field work. Women are furthermore degraded as Hurtson uses sugar as “ a medium through which imperialist paternalism and violence” are included into the book. The sugar aspect creates a childlike imagery of Janie that is also connected to Haiti as “a nation orphaned by parental neglect”(Stuelke, 766). Both Janie and Haiti are seen by societty as in need of help and guidance, which is why most of Janie’s husband